First and foremost- anyone who did not know about the UFFS a week ago Sunday please accept our most heartfelt apologies. It was a raucous success with nine food producers from the Northeast sampling and selling their wares to a crowd of a couple hundred people on a scorching Sunday afternoon at the East River Bar in Brooklyn. Thanks to Nancy Nowacek for our stellar flyer and UFFS logo- displayed here on a lampost in Brooklyn.

Why were Tom Mylan (Grocery Guy), buyer for the Marlow & Sons shop, and myself driven to create this event that brought 9 regional producers and a couple hundred people to a bar in Williamsburg to eat food and drink beer together? We have been to the Fancy Food Show and while we understand that it serves a great purpose for the business end of speciality food (i.e. producers can come to this show once or twice a year and see all of their biggest clients) it lacks the things that brought us to food in the first place: eating and drinking great food with friends and direct contact with the people making the stuff.

Our goal was to strip away the business arm altogether and create more of a farmer’s market vibe with one important addition- BEER. The entire gig was much more Ramona Quimby than Martha Stewart- no brochures or big fancy booths- just basic tables with butcher paper and great food. On Sunday afternoon, as waves of people kept coming, we determined that we are not alone in our desire to talk directly to food producers over cold brews.